Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe has given the Fantastic Four property some attention during the Multiverse Saga with John Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Chris Evans’ Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine, we haven’t actually seen the actual team assembled yet in this superhero franchise. That changes in July with the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps on the 2025 movies calendar. Before that happens, though, the upcoming Marvel movie is paving the way for another MCU first: the release of a comic book that also exists within the very Earth where this movie takes place.
Sounds pretty meta, right? That’s accurate… and also exciting, if you have the same mindset as me. In our world, Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics have teamed up for Fantastic Four: First Steps #1, which is being written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Mark Buckingham. You’ll be able to purchase this one-shot issue digitally or at your local comic book store on July 2.
However, within the world of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s the Future Foundation that’s partnered with Marvel Comics for this comic book issue. On that Earth, this issue comes our four years after Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm and Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm went into outer space, were bombarded by cosmic rays and gained the powers that respectively made them Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing and The Human Torch. Here’s the issue’s cover art, which was illustrated by Phil Noto.
With this cover harkening back to the real life Fantastic Four #1 released in 1961, Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 will chronicle the team’s “very first exploit,” i.e. when they debuted their “astonishing abilities” to the public as they saved New York from “near destruction.” Here’s what Matt Fraction had to say about working on this issue… or rather, the Matt Fraction from First Steps’ Earth:
What an honor to be asked to help celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Fantastic Four! It was a thrill to bring their first legendary adventure to the world of comic books for the first time! It's a story we all know by heart, but I think Magic Mark Buckingham and I have found a way to tell it as you've never heard or seen before — and who knows, this could be the start of something big!
We’ve known for a long time that The Fantastic Four: First Steps won’t be an origin story, although the reboot’s first trailer indicated we’ll at least see the lead-up to Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny’s space flight. However, for those of you wanting to learn what happened in their first superhero adventure, picking up Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 will be a must. This whole thing becomes even more meta when taking into account how in the main Marvel Comics universe, there are comic books that publish licensed stories about characters like the Fantastic Four.
Once Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 has been released, we’ll only have to wait an additional three weeks for The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ arrival, as it starts playing on the big screen on July 25. After that, Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny will be back for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which come out on May 1, 2026 and May 7, 2027, respectively.
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